Tag Archives: ISS

Nov 23 2013

Satellite TLE Challenge Begins

Dnepr Launch November 21, 2013 - Credit ISC Kosmotras

Dnepr Launch November 21, 2013 – Credit ISC Kosmotras

This week has seen deployments from the ISS, a Minotaur-1 and a Dnepr of an estimated 34 satellites carrying amateur radio payloads along with a number of commercial and research satellites.

After a launch the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) issue the Keplerian Two Line Element Set which can be used to determine the position and velocity of the associated satellite. CelesTrak make this information available and the file for launches in the past 30 days is available here.

After a new launch this file will list the ID’s of the objects that NORAD have detected. These objects can be parts of the rocket body as well as the satellites. The challenge in the days after launch is to work out which object ID’s correspond to which satellites.

On the AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) Nico Janssen PA0DLO has posted an overview of the presently known IDs for the satellites that were launched between November 19-21.

ISS JSSOD Cubesat launches
2013-11-19 12:18 UTC
39412 1998-067DA  Pico Dragon ?
39413 1998-067DB  ArduSat 1 ?
39414 1998-067DC  ArduSat X ?
To be confirmed when the objects have more separation.
2013-11-20 07:58 UTC
39415 1998-067DD  TechEdSat 3P

Minotaur 1, Wallops Flight Facility
2013-11-20 01:15 UTC
ORS3 & ELaNa 4: 29 satellites
So far only 4 TLEs published. No IDs yet but probably:
39380 2013-064A  STPSat 3

Dnepr, Yasny
2013-11-21 07:10:11 UTC
32 satellites
19 TLEs published
39417 2013-066B  FUNcube 1
39427 2013-066M  Triton 1
39428 2013-066N  Delfi-n3Xt

Note that all designations may change later on.

73,
Nico PA0DLO

Keplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs or ‘Keps’):
• New satellites launched in past 30 days http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt
• CubeSats http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/cubesat.txt
• Experimental satellites http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/x-comm.txt
• Engineering satellites http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/engineering.txt
• Amateur radio satellites http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftp/keps/current/nasa.all

NORAD Two-Line Element Set Format http://celestrak.com/NORAD/documentation/tle-fmt.asp

ISS CubeSats https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/16/iss-cubesats-deploy-tuesday-and-wednesday/

Minotaur-1 ELaNa-4 launch https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/elana-4-cubesats/

Dnepr Yasny launch https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/dnepr-november-2013/

Nov 16 2013

ISS CubeSats Deploy Tuesday and Wednesday

Pico Dragon CubeSat - Image credit VNSC

Pico Dragon CubeSat – Image credit VNSC

Four CubeSats carrying amateur radio payloads will be deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) by the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). Three of them, Pico Dragon, ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-2 will be deployed on Tuesday, November 19, and the fourth Cubesat, TechEdSat-3p, will be deployed Wednesday.

The CubeSats:
• Pico Dragon developed by the Việt Nam National Satellite Center (VNSC), University of Tokyo and IHI aerospace. 437.250 MHz CW beacon and 437.365 MHz 1200 bps AFSK AX.25 telemetry.
• ArduSat-1 developed by NanoSatisfi. 437.000 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink.
• ArduSat-X developed by NanoSatisfi. 437.345 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink .
• TechEdSat-3 developed by interns at the NASA Ames Research Center. 437.465 MHz 1200 bps packet radio beacon transmitting 1 watt to 1/4 wave monopole. It plans to test an Iridium Satphone modem and has a deployment mechanism to de-orbit in 10 days.

They are 1U in size (10*10*10 cm) except for TechEdSat-3 which is 3U (30*10*10 cm).

As well as the ISS deployment next week also sees two mass launches of satellites on Minotaur-1 and Dnepr rockets. In total 37 satellites carrying amateur radio payloads are expected to be deployed next week. The frequencies of these satellites can be seen at
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/

NASA http://www.nasa.gov/content/expedition-38-wraps-up-first-week-on-station/

Australian Foundation licensee Jonathan Oxer VK3FADO talks about the ArduSat satellites that he helped develop in this video
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/09/15/eevblog-ardusat-arduino-cubesat/

Nov 14 2013

Teenage radio ham takes lead on ISS school contact

International Space Station ISS with shuttle Endeavour 2011-05-2316 year-old Rebecca Rubsamen KJ6TWM led the amateur radio contact between students at Rancho Romero Elementary School and astronaut Mike Hopkins KF5LJG on the International Space Station.

The Contra Costa Times newspaper reports:

“This is going to be the biggest science experiment we’ve done with the school — and my career as principal,” proclaimed Skye Larsh, principal of Rancho Romero Elementary School.

The lead engineer in the whole grand experiment: 16 year-old Rebecca Rubsamen of Alamo, a sophomore at Bentley School in Lafayette who built her own VHF radio and crafted two large antennas in her backyard.

A licensed amateur radio operator, Rebecca wanted to return to her elementary alma mater to let students talk to astronauts in space. She applied for permission to do the direct contact through NASA’s Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program. Since 1983, the program has connected schools and universities with astronauts in space to encourage interest in math and science — and youth to become future astronauts.

NASA grants about 50 such permissions a year for amateur radio enthusiasts to make contact with the International Space Station. This year, there have been about 68 granted internationally. Rancho Romero’s is one of 20 in the United States this year and just the third in California, said Ashle Harris, a NASA spokeswoman.

Tim Bosma W6MU, a NASA volunteer who helps to mentor amateur radio buffs through the program, said Rebecca was among the youngest people to act as a lead operator for such a radio communication for a school.

Read the full story at http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_24517766/headline

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://www.ariss-eu.org/

Oct 31 2013

ISS HamTV Presentation by G3VZV

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

In this video radio amateur Graham Shirville G3VZV talks about the International Space Station (ISS) HamTV project. The presentation was given to the BATC Convention on October 26, 2013.

Watch ISS Ham TV

Noel Matthews G8GTZ, Chair of the BATC, has announced the first 11 presentation videos from the CAT13 convention on ATV/DATV, held October 26, 2013, have been put up on the BATC video archive area.

They can be found in the http://batc.tv/ Film Archive by selecting the BATC CAT13 category.

The direct links are as follows:

BATC review http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1301

LNB developments http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1302

HAB introduction http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1303

Early colour cameras http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1304

SMD techniques http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1305

DTX1 DVB-S xmtr http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1306

DATV in practice http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1307

Spectrum matters http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1308

10 GHz Tx multipliers http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1309

10GHz PLL LNBs http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1310

ISS HAMTV http://www.batc.tv/streams/cat1311

Oct 28 2013

ISS Slow Scan TV Active

RS0ISS SSTV 20131029-1121Z received by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

RS0ISS SSTV 20131029-1121Z received by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD reports that the Slow Scan Television (SSTV) experiment MAI-75 on the International Space Station (ISS) has been active on 145.800 MHz FM.

The experiment is expected to run for two days, October 28-29, 2013.

Dmitry also reports that on October 31, 2013 SSTV images will be transmitted from the  ISS on 145.800 MHz showing photographic images of the life and work of the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

ISS SSTV pictures received by Pete Sipple M0PSX can be seen at http://www.essexham.co.uk/news/iss-sstv-images-29-october-2013.html

All you need to do to receive the SSTV pictures from the space station is to  connected the audio output of a scanner or amateur rig via a simple interface to the soundcard on a Windows PC or an Apple iOS device, and tune in to 145.800 MHz FM. You can even receive pictures by holding an iPhone next to the radio’s loudspeaker.

Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin

The ISS puts out a strong signal on 145.800 MHz FM and a 2m handheld with a 1/4 wave antenna will be enough to receive it. The FM transmission uses 5 kHz deviation which is standard in much of the world.

Many FM rigs in the UK can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters so select the wider deviation. Handhelds all seem to have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

On Windows PC’s the free application MMSSTV can be used to decode the signal, on Apple iOS devices you can use the SSTV app. The ISS Fan Club website will show you when the space station is in range.

For more on Slow Scan Television SSTV, see this article SSTV – The Basics
http://www.essexham.co.uk/sstv-the-basics

How to be successful with the ISS Slow Scan Television (SSTV) imaging system
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtoisssstv.html

RS0ISS SSTV 20131029-1118Z received by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

RS0ISS SSTV 20131029-1118Z received by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

Information on the MAI-75 SSTV experiment
http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/researches/education-26.html

MMSSTV software http://hamsoft.ca/pages/mmsstv.php

IZ8BLY Vox Recoder, enables you to record the signals from the ISS on 145.800 MHz while you’re away at work http://antoninoporcino.xoom.it/VoxRecorder/

ARISS Slow Scan TV (SSTV) Blog and Gallery http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.co.uk/

Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD
http://tinyurl.com/ISS-SSTV-2013-10-28
http://tinyurl.com/ISS-SSTV-2013-10-31

Oct 28 2013

November Deployment for ISS CubeSats

Pico Dragon CubeSat - Image credit VNSC

Pico Dragon CubeSat – Image credit VNSC

Four CubeSats carrying amateur radio payloads will be deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) by the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD).  Pico Dragon, ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-2 will be deployed on Tuesday, November 19, and the fourth Cubesat, TechEdSat-3p, will be deployed Wednesday, November 20.

The CubeSats are:
•    Pico Dragon developed by the Việt Nam National Satellite Center (VNSC), University of Tokyo and IHI aerospace. 437.250 MHz CW beacon and 437.365 MHz 1200 bps AFSK AX.25 telemetry.
•    ArduSat-1 developed by NanoSatisfi. 437.700 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink.
•    ArduSat-X developed by NanoSatisfi. 437.700 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink .
•    TechEdSat-3 developed by interns at the NASA Ames Research Center. 437.465 MHz 1200 bps packet radio beacon transmitting 1 watt to 1/4 wave monopole. It plans to test an Iridium Satphone modem and has a deployment mechanism to de-orbit in 10 days.

They are 1U in size (10*10*10 cm) except for TechEdSat-3 which is 3U (30*10*10 cm).

IEEE – DIY Space Programs http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/satellites/diy-space-programs